North Texas (DFW) Hail, 2026 Season So Far

Twenty dates from February 28 to November 10, 2026 count as hail days in five Dallas-Fort Worth counties: Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton and Ellis. The largest new radar estimate was 3.85 inches on April 26, 5 miles southeast of Grand Prairie in Dallas County, from the overnight storm that began over Tarrant County on the evening of April 25. The last counted day so far is September 21.

Every count, size and date below was measured from HailScore™'s live radar record on November 10, 2026. That record begins February 28, 2026, so hail before then is outside this count. Radar-estimated exposure is not proof of damage.

This is HailScore™'s first Texas recap. It uses the same rules as the Texas hail statistics page, which counts the whole state.

The Season by Month

April had the most hail days, six, and the biggest storm. One of those six, April 30, is explained below. The radar record has no reading of 1 inch or larger in the five counties on any date after September 22.

Every Hail Day, Date by Date

A cell is one square on the radar grid, about one kilometer across. Each cell is counted once per day, however many times the radar re-read it. Counted cells are new that day and backed up by the grid around them. The size column shows the largest estimate among each date's own counted cells.

Place names are the nearest city HailScore™ tracks, so a cell listed "southeast of Midlothian" can sit in Ellis County well away from that town. The county in brackets is where the cell itself sits.

Across the 20 dates, 2,521 cells were counted. 136 of them were 2 inches or larger, on five dates, and 13 were 3 inches or larger, all on April 26. Another 40 new readings on counted days stood alone on the grid and were set aside.

April 30 is the one counted date with no counted cell. Of its 46 cells, 45 repeated April 29. The only new one, a 1.40-inch reading in southwest Tarrant County, had no other cell of 1 inch or larger within about 5 kilometers. The hail-day rule that HailScore™'s Texas and Colorado statistics pages use keeps a date that carries at least one new reading, as long as the grid backs up some reading on it. On April 30 the readings it backed up were April 29's. This post keeps the date so its count matches that rule, and shows no size for it. Without it, the count would be 19.

Dates Refused

Ten more dates carried readings of 1 inch or larger in the five counties. None counts, because every cell on them had already been reported the day before. The radar product publishes a trailing 24-hour maximum, so a reading after midnight re-reports the previous evening's hail under the new date.

No date was refused for resting only on lone readings, and none for resting on a storm core above 8.0 inches.

The same effect inflates some counted days. April 27's record shows a 3.85-inch reading, but that is April 26's storm still inside the 24-hour window. Of April 27's 1,003 cells, 701 repeated April 26, and its own largest new estimate is 1.83 inches. September 12's record shows September 11's 2.14 inches for the same reason; its own largest is 1.67.

April 25–26: The Season's Biggest Storm

The storm began over Tarrant County late on April 25. NOAA's Storm Events Database lists 26 hail reports in Tarrant County between 10:10 and 11:48 p.m. that night, up to 3.00 inches. It lists 18 more in Tarrant, Dallas and Ellis counties between 12:30 and 1:59 a.m. on April 26, including a 3.00-inch report in Dallas County at 12:51 a.m.

The radar record holds one reading every two hours on these dates. The 10:30 p.m. reading on April 25 caught the start of the storm: 31 cells, all in Tarrant County, up to 1.54 inches. The next reading, at 12:30 a.m., falls on April 26, so most of the storm is counted under that date. The 3.85-inch estimate southeast of Grand Prairie first appears in the 2:30 a.m. reading, so that hail fell after 12:30 a.m.

April 26 is the largest day of the season by far. Its 1,234 counted cells are almost half of the season's 2,521:

• Tarrant County: 743 counted cells, the largest a radar-estimated 2.86 inches in Fort Worth.
• Dallas County: 445 counted cells, the largest 3.85 inches, 5 miles southeast of Grand Prairie.
• Ellis County: 46 counted cells, the largest 1.85 inches, 10 miles northeast of Midlothian.

All 125 of the day's counted cells at 2 inches or larger passed the 2-inch corroboration rule described below. April 25 through April 30 then counted six dates in a row. NOAA's Storm Events Database lists 16 ground reports in Dallas and Collin counties on April 27, up to 1.75 inches.

Other Days That Stood Out

• March 4: the first counted date, with 119 counted cells in Dallas County and 7 in Tarrant County. The largest estimate was 2.17 inches, 12 miles southwest of Mesquite.
• June 2: the only date with counted cells in all five counties, 159 in all. The largest estimate was 2.02 inches, 4 miles southeast of Mesquite. NOAA's Storm Events Database lists nine ground reports that day, up to 2.00 inches in Denton County.
• June 6: 199 counted cells, eight of them 2 inches or larger. The largest, 2.40 inches, was 8 miles northeast of Midlothian, just inside Dallas County. Ellis County's largest was 2.03 inches.
• September 11: 17 counted cells, all in Tarrant County, the largest 2.14 inches, 5 miles north of Mansfield.

County by County

Tarrant County had counted cells on the most dates. Dallas County had the most counted cells, mostly from April 26 and 27. Collin County had counted cells on three dates: April 27, June 2 and July 6.

Near the city centers the season was lighter. Within 5 miles of the center of Dallas, counted cells fell on two dates, April 26 and May 24, and none reached 2 inches. Within 5 miles of the center of Fort Worth they also fell on two dates, April 26 and May 19, the largest 2.86 inches on April 26. Grand Prairie's 5-mile circle took 127 counted cells on April 26, up to 3.75 inches. Within 5 miles of the centers of McKinney, Denton, Prosper and Celina, no cell was counted all season.

HailScore™ publishes storm-record pages for Colorado counties only, so none of these dates has one yet. For the longer record near one city, see the Fort Worth, Dallas, Grand Prairie and Midlothian hail history pages. They group hail on Mountain Time calendar days, so a storm late in a Texas evening can sit one date earlier there than here.

How These Days Were Counted

Source: NOAA's Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) MESH hail estimate. HailScore™'s MRMS record begins February 28, 2026, and its first reading also carries the 24 hours before it. Hail before then is in NOAA's other records, but not in this count. The rules are the ones the Texas hail statistics page uses:

• The hail-day rule. A hail day is a distinct Central Time date with new hail of 1 inch or larger in the five counties. MRMS publishes a trailing 24-hour maximum, so cells that only repeat the previous date do not count.
• No lone readings. A reading needs at least three other cells of 1 inch or larger within about 5 kilometers on the same date. Forty new readings on counted days failed this and were set aside.
• The 8.0-inch cap. A date resting only on a storm core above 8.0 inches, the largest hailstone measured in the United States, is refused. Nothing here came close. The largest reading anywhere in the five counties this season was 3.85 inches.
• The 2-inch corroboration rule. A reading of 2 inches or more is published only if another hail record of at least 1 inch lies within 25 kilometers, on that date or the day either side. All 136 counted cells at 2 inches or more passed. That check says hail fell nearby. It does not verify the size.

County lines are the Census Bureau's TIGER boundaries. A cell counts for a county when the center of its radar square falls inside that county, and cells just past the county lines only help back up their neighbors.

NOAA's Storm Events Database, the ground-verified record quoted above, usually publishes months after a storm. Its latest Texas report so far is from July 12, 2026, so the August and September dates have no ground reports in it yet.

What These Sizes Mean, and What They Don't

MESH is a model estimate, tuned so that roughly 75% of measured hail comes in at or below it. Read a size as a class, within about one tier, rather than as a measured stone. Our MESH reference page explains the limits.

3.85 inches was the strongest cell in the five counties that day, not what fell on any particular street. HailScore™ measures hail exposure recorded in NOAA data. Radar-estimated exposure is not proof of damage. Two houses on one block can come out of the same storm differently.

Check Your Own Address

1. Look up the address. A free hail check by address shows the score, map and dated hail history near a property, drawn from 48.4M+ NOAA-linked hail records across all sources. It reads the same live radar this post counts.
2. Test one date. The hail date check lists the NOAA Storm Events reports and radar hail records within 1 mile of an address on a date you name, and in the 45 days either side. Three address checks a month are free without an account.
3. Look for ground signs. Gutters, downspouts, window screens and vent fins dent at lower hail sizes than roofing does, and you can see them from the driveway.
4. Book a licensed on-roof inspection if the record and the ground signs agree. It is the only way to learn the condition of the roof itself.

For the whole state, live through the season, see the Texas hail statistics page.

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Data current as of November 10, 2026. HailScore™ documents radar-recorded hail exposure near an address. It does not confirm roof damage.